The system that finances Michigan's schools from kindergarten through 12th grade is a perennial topic of conversation among policymakers, parents, taxpayers and voters. A constructive discussion of this issue, however, requires a sound knowledge of the financial workings of Michigan's elementary and secondary school system. This knowledge is precisely what the authors have attempted to provide. While the Mackinac Center for Public Policy has developed numerous policy recommendations over the years, this primer is exclusively informational. This primer addresses the following: (1) how revenues are raised for Michigan's elementary and secondary public school system; (2) how money is distributed to education programs and school districts once it is collected by various taxing authorities; and (3) how districts budget monies to be spent on the various activities involved in operating schools and other educational programming. This book is arranged in four sections. The first--and the shortest--is "A Brief Overview of the Structure of Michigan's Public School System," which defines a few basic terms and sketches the main local, state and federal agencies involved in financing Michigan's public school system. This overview should help readers unfamiliar with Michigan's public school structure navigate the remainder of the book. The second, third and fourth sections are considerably longer than the first and cover the three areas: tax revenues, distribution of revenues and financial management of those revenues by school districts. Appended are: (1) U.S. Department of Education Spending in Michigan; (2) Summary of "Durant" Court Decisions; and (3) Guide to a New School Finance Electronic Module. An index is included. (Contains 29 graphs, 238 footnotes, and 410 endnotes, footnotes.) [This paper was written with the assistance of Glenda Rader, Darcy Marusich, Alison Taylor, Steve Zakem, John Schwartz, Thomas Moline, Charles Pisoni, Gary Start, Paul Soma, Tim Yeadon, Mary Ann Cleary, Douglas Newcombe, Vicki Duso, Clark Volz, Howard Heideman, Paul Brown, Phil Boone, Patrick Dillon, Jayne Klein, and Dianne Easterling.].

Local budgeting serves important functions that include setting priorities, planning, financial control over inputs, management of operations and accountability to citizens. These objectives give rise to technical and policy issues that require open discussion and debate. The format of the budget document can facilitate this debate. This book provides a comprehensive treatment of all aspects of local budgeting needed to develop sound fiscal administration at the local level. Topics covered include fiscal administration, forecasting, fiscal discipline, fiscal transparency, integrity of revenue administration, budget formats, and processes including performance budgeting, and capital budgeting.

The Digest of Education Statistics provides a compilation of statistical information covering the broad field of education from prekindergarten through graduate school. It includes a selection of data from many sources and draws especially on the results and activities carried out by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES).

A unique resource for both academics and practitioners, School District Budgeting provides a comprehensive look at the resource allocation process, from developing planning guidelines to reporting the results of financial operations. An all-inclusive guide, the book provides theoretical and practical treatments of the entire budget process.